Abstract
Cylindrical parablic mirror reflectors prepared for solar energy experiments were evaluated for applicability in improving the lighting efficiency of conventional fluorescent lamps. The beam spread and the peak intensity was simply related to the lamp diameter. The one-half-peak spread and the peak intensity are typically 26 degrees and 3,000 candelas, respectively, for a luminaire with a 40 watt lamp and a mirror reflector of conventional size. The luminaire efficiency is high, 88% for direct lighting without using a diffuser. If a diffuser is needed at all, it can be a very thin one. In this case the luminaire efficiency is 80%.
